Jig



Oct. 11 1938. B. M. BIRD ET AL 2,132,378

JIG 7 Original Filed Jan- 8, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 11, 1938. B. M.BIRD ET AL JIG Original Filed Jan. 8, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 H I I 1 5BYQON MJEHQD ERNST F. MULLER Oct. 11,1938. B. M. BIRD El AL 2,132,378

v JI'G I Original Filed Jan. 8, 1935 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 M ing parts ofthefioat controlled refuse discharge i2 and one of which is individualto the comnism of Fig. trol valves, one of which is individual to com-Patented Oct. 11, 1938 J I I UNITED STATES PATIENT OFFICE Byron M. Birdand Ernst F. Muller, Columbus, Ohio, assignors to The JeffreyManufacturing Company, a corporation of Ohio Application January 8,1935, Serial No. 8'16. Re-

newed June 22,1938. In Great Britain July 24,

' 12 Claims. (o1. zoo-4st) This invention relates to a jig, and moreparfloat operated pawl and ratchet control mechaticularly to a jig usedfor washing coal and sepanism for the refuse discharge valve;

rating the clean coal from the refuse found in- Fig. 8 is a sectionalview on the line 8-8 of termingled therewith in the raw coal. his.

An object ofthe invention is to provide a jig Fig. 9 is an enlargedelevationalview of the with an improved fluid control means foraddetails of the pawl mechanism of Figs. '1 and 8; justablydirecting thejigging fluid through the Fig. 10 is an enlarged-detailed elevationalview jig screen to compensate for varying conditions of avalve and anadjustable eccentric mechanism encountered in practice, j which may beemployed as a part of our inven- Another object of the invention is toprovide tion; v a multiple compartment jig in which each com- Fig. ll isa sectional elevational view of the department has an individual refusecollector and vice of Fig. 10; and elevator, whereby the refuse fromeach compart- Fig. 12 is a sectional view'of the eccentric ment may beseparately received and, if desired, mechanism of Figs. ill and ii takenon the line given individual treatment. VA -i2 of Fig. 10. 15

Another object of the invention is to provide This application is acontinuation in part of a multiple compartment jig, the fluid pulsatingour application entitled Apparatus for treating means of which areoperatedin synchronism mineral materials, Serial No. 736,442, filed Julyand at adjustable phase relations. 23, i934.

Another object of the invention is to provide Referring particularly tothe drawings, there an improved refuse chute which will relieve the isillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 a jig including the discharge valve underabnormal conditions. I features of our invention. As illustrated, thisde- Still another object of the invention is to provice comprises amultiple compartment jig and vide an improved refuse accumulationresponsive in the illustration given there are three compartrefusedischarge valve operating meansfor a jig. rnents though, of course, thisnumber may be Another object of the invention is to provide eitherincreased or reduced, as desired. Broadly a jig including a perforatescreen which is pivstated, the device comprises a lower frame strucotedat one end adjacent a refuse, discharge ture iii, built up oflongitudinal, lateral and upopening and adjustably mounted adjacent anright channel members with cross angle memopposite end whereby the rateof travel of the hers to increase the rigidity thereof. Within thematerial across said screen may be adjusted. said lower frame in issupported an elongated Other objects of the invention will appear tankit which is divided into three comparthereinafter, the novel featuresand combinations rnents l2, it and it. being set forth in the appendedclaims. An upper frame 85 is also provided which is Referring to thedrawings: 5 rigidly attached to' said lower frame In, said Fig. 1 is anelevational view of a three-comupper frame being adapted to support theoperpartment jig incorporating the features of our ating mechanism foreach of the said jig cominvention, two compartments of which are shownpartments i2, i3 and il. Said upper frame ii in longitudinal section,and parts of which are includes a centrally disposed platform I 6 uponremoved to show other details. which is mounted a speed reductionmechanism 40 Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the i8 driven froma motor i1 through a U-belt drive device of Fig. 1; iii (Fig. 2).

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail, parts being shown Extending longitudinallyof said upper frame in section, showing particularly the adjustable i5is a pair of shafts 20 and 2|, each of which is fluid directing plate; 0driven fromsaid speed reduction mechanism It. 5 is a sectional detailtaken on line Said shaft 20 carries a plurality of eccentrics,

311F411 of three in number, for operating air control valves, Fig. 4 isan enlarged elevational detail, showtwo of which'are individual to thecompartment mechanism; partment i3. Shaft 2| is also provided with 5Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan view of the mechathree eccentrics for drivingindividual air con- Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 8-8 of partmenti3 and two of which are individual to Fi compartment il. in addition,the shaft 20 drives Fig. 7 is an enlarged elevational viewof the theelevator mechanism 22 individual to the compartment l2. The shaft 2|also drives elevator mechanisms 23 and 24 individual to compartments l3and 14, respectively. Said shaft 2| also drives the shaft 25 throughchain and sprocket mechanisms 26 and 21, which shaft 25 is common to aplurality of refuse discharge devices, one for each of the compartments12, i and M.

The tank H is provided with a material receiving chute 28 which isadapted to receive the raw material to be treated by the jiggingdevice-as, for example, raw coal as received from the mine-and, with atreated material discharge chute 29 over which the treated material,such as clean coal, is adapted to be discharged into a receptacle orconveyor.

As the structural details of each of the several compartments i2, i3 andis are substantially the same, a description of one will sufiice forail. Each of said compartments comprises an individual wash tank 39having substantially parallel side walls 30 and t2 and an arcuate bottomwall 33. Extending longitudinally of the wash tank 39 and substantiallyparallel with the side wall 35 is a partition 33 which divides the washtank 39 into a wash chamber 3% and an air chamber Extending laterallybetween the partition 33' and the side wall 32, and thus within the washchamber til, is a material supporting screen or perforate plate 3%.Adjacent one end of said screen til is a laterally extending weir illwhich is made of a pair of relatively adjustable plates and which isvertically adjustable by having elongated slots cooperating with nuts3'5 which extend from a laterally extending plate, which plate isconnected at its opposite ends to said partition 33 and side wall 32.The bottom edge of weir Si is positioned above the lower and dischargeend of said screen 35 to form an opening 36 or" variable size of arefuse discharge chute til formed by upper and lower stationary walls35' and 36 and a pivoted member lfiil, hereinafter described more indetail. A refuse discharge valve til, of the rotary locking gate type,cooperates with said discharge chute Bil to discharge the refuse whichaccumulates on the screen 3'6, said refuse being discharged into theboot 4H oi the elevator mechanism 22, or 2 1, where it may be lifted bythe buckets 2 of said elevator mechanism and discharged from thedischarge opening'thereof. A perforated coal discharge chute 38' directsmaterial from the weir 37 to the next compartment screen 35.

Substantially longitudinally and centrally spaced with respect to theinclined screen 36 and extending between the walls 3! and 32 of the washtank 30 and positioned between the walls 3| and 33' of the aircompartment 35 and forming one wall of said air compartment, is apartition 43. This partition 43, in each of the compartments l2, l3 andi4, is effective to divide said compartments I2, l3 and I4 intosub-compartments, each of which has an, individual air chamber 35 and anindividual air control valve 44.

It will thus be seen that in the device illustrated there are threecompartments l2, l3 and I4, each of which has an inclined screen 36, aweir 31, a discharge chute 39, a discharge valve 40 and a refuseelevator mechanism, and that each of said compartments l2, l3 and i4 isdivided into two sub-compartments, each sub-compartment of which has anindividual air chamber 35 with an individual air control valve 44. It isthus manifest that there will be six air control valves 44 and sixsub-compartments for the three comtions which are 120 degrees out ofphase.

partments I2, l3 and I4, each sub-compartment being provided with anindividual air chamber 35.

Each of the air valves 44 is controlled by, an adjustable eccentricmechanism 45. There are therefore six of said adjustable eccentricmechanisms, three of which are operated from the shaft 20 and three ofwhich are operated from the shaft 2!, as aforesaid, The air controlvalve 44 and the adjustable eccentric mechanism 45 may well take theform of the devices of Figs. 10, iii and 12 which are hereinafterdescribed and which are disclosed in detail inthe application of ByronM. Bird for a Method of jigging, Serial No. 736,443, filed July 23,1934, and in the application of Byron M. Bird and Frank H. Smith for aValve, Serial No. 736,444, filed July 28, 1934.

Bald eccentric mechanism 45 is of such form that it may be operativelyconnected to the shafts 2% or 2! to have any one of three angular posi-The keyways of each eccentric are preferably aligned on shafts 2t and2|. By employing the eccentric mechanism disclosed in said Figs. 10, 11and 12 and hereinafter described, it is possible to operate each of thevalves 44 in synchronism with the phase relation of any valve 120degrees out of phase with any other valve. One particular mode ofoperation of said valves which has been found to be particularly usefuland to reduce appreciably both the air and the energy required tooperate the device, is to set each of the two valves 44 of eachindividual compartment l2, l3 and 64 in phase and to set eachpair ofvalves individual to each of said compartments l2, l3 and it, 120degrees out of phase with each other pair of-valves; that is, the valves44, individual to compartment it, would operate in phase; the valves to,individual to compartment I 3, would also operate in phase with eachother but 126 degrees out of phase with the valves oi-said compartmentl2; and the valves 4 individual to compartment l4, would operate inphase with each other and 120 degrees out of phase with the valves oieach of the compartments l2 and I3. This particular setting of saidvalves is illustrated in Fig. of the drawings.

Each of said valves 44 is operative to control periodically theadmission of air under pressure to its individual air chamber 35 and toexhaust air from saidv air chamber. In addition, where the valves arethe type disclosed in said Figs. 10, 11 and 12, they may be adjusted toseal the charm bers 35 twice during each cycle of operationonce underconditions of initial atmospheric pressure in said chambers and againunder conditions above initial atmospheric pressure in said chambers.

The source of air supply which is controlled by said valves 44 maycomprise an air pump or blower 48 which is connected to a common airstorage tank 41 by a conduit 48. Said air storage tank 4'] is preferablyof sufficient size that there is no substantial reduction ofair'pressure therein when any of the valves 44 are operated. Individualconduits 49 having therein individual man-- ually controllable valves 50lead from the air storage tank 41 to the individual valves 44.

Each of the sub-compartments of the compartments l2, l3 and I4 isprovided with a source of water comprising a valve controlled supplyline 5|, which is supplied with-water from a common water main 52. It isthus manifest that each of the sub-compartments of the compartments l2,I3 and I4 may be individually controlled, both as tothe amount of watersupplied thereto and the amount of air supplied thereto and exhaustedtherefrom.

Cooperating with each of the compartments l2, l3 and i4 is a refuseresponsive float controlled refuse discharge mechanism. Said mechanismcomprises a float 53 which responds to the accumulation of refuse on thescreen 36 to control the actuation of the refuse discharge valve 40,thereby to maintain the refuse on the said screen 36 at a predeterminedlevel. The details of this mechanism are illustrated in Figs. 4 to 9,inclusive, and will be described hereinafter.

Adjacent the bottom of each of the wash tanks 30, positioned below whatis commonly termed the hutch, is a longitudinally extending trough 54within which operates a screw conveying mecha-v nism 55 for conveyingthe accumulated hutch refuse through the small opening 55 in the boot Mof the elevating mechanisms 22, and 26 where said refuse may bewithdrawn by said elevating mechanisms. Said screw conveying mechanism55 is driven from the lower or foot shaft of the elevator mechanism 22,23 or 24, which shaft extends beyond both walls of the boot M and has asquared extension on the left hand end, as

viewed in Fig. 1, to receive an internally squared extension on theright hand end of the-central hollow pipe 55. The left hand end of saidscrew mechanism 55 in compartment 12 is clamped to a small stud shaft bya clamp 56" formed of two half cylinders, one half of which carries partof the spiral forming the screw mechanism 55. Appropriate bolts and nutsmaintain the clamp 56' on the mentioned stud shaft and pipe 55'. Theleft hand end of said stud shaft is carried in the cover bearing 51'which is removably'attached to the bottom of tank 30, as by nuts andbolts. This cover bearing not, only supports the stud shaft and therebysupports the left hand end of the screw conveying mechanism 55, but alsoprovides a removable cover which may be removed and allow removal ofsaid screw conveying mechanism by longitudinal movement thereof.

The screw conveying mechanism of compartments i2. i3 and M is thusdriven from the foot shaft of its elevator mechanism 22, 23 and M,respectively In addition, all of said screw con: veying mechanisms 55are connected through the couplings 56 of compartments Mend it and theelevator foot shafts.

It is evident that the screw conveying mechanisms 55 of compartmens i3and 54 cannot be removed in the manner above described with respect tothe mechanism 55 in compartment i2. There is an additional way in whichsaid screw conveying mechanism 55 of said compartment i2 may be removedand this also applies to each of the other compartments. The partiion 43has a portion cut away above the trough 54 which is normally covered bya removable plate 4|. By removing the split coupling 56, the shaft 55can be moved to the left suillciently to disengage the aforementionedsquared extension on the right hand end thereof from the aforementionedsquared extension on the stub shaft. When this is done, the conveyormechanism 55 is free to move and, with plate ll removed, it may bepulled through the trough 54 and opening Ml ino one of thesub-compartments. By pivoting the screen 38 andmoving it out of the wayor by removing man-hole cover 13, the said mechanism 55 may be removedfrom the tank 30. The plate 4} is provided to allow of two separate anddistinct adjustments in each of the compartments whereby an initial aadjustment of air and water may be used in the first half of thecompartment and a final adjustment of air and water may be used in thesecond half of the compartment.

Adjacent the bottom of each of the boots 4| is a line refuse flush valve51 which provides for flushing of the said boots 4|.

From the above description of the jig, it is evident that in theoperation thereof the raw coal to be treatedis fed at the materialreceiving chute 28 onto the screen 36 of the first compartment I2.Rotating shafts 20 and 2| operating through the eccentric mechanismsoperate the individual air control valves 44 to admit air to the airchamber 35 and exhaust air from said chambers periodically. By settingthe eccentric mechanisms 45 of each of the compartments I2,

i3 and I4, 120 degrees out of phase with each other, it is evident thatonly two valves 44 will be open at the same time and thus the amount ofair drawn from the storage tank M at any time will not be excessive.This particular mode of air admission also results in what may be termeda wave motion of the jigging fluid inthe compartments IE, it and it asthe fluid in each of said compartments 82, iii and it will go through acycle of operation which is 120 degrees out of phase with. the cycle ofoperation of fluid in eachother compartment.

The material being treated, which in the example given will beconsidered as raw coal, is first received on the screen 35 of thecompartment l2 and there subjected to the periodic pul sations of fluidmoving upwardly and downwardly with respect to the screen 35. Thismovement of fluid with respect to said material will be effective tostratify the component parts thereof according to specific gravitiesnsis set forth'in considerable detail in the above mentioned applicationof Byron M. Bird, Serial No.

736,448. Part of the line refuse of said raw materlal will be drawn downthrough the screen 56 in o the hutch of the wash tank 35 and accumulatein the trough 56 where it will be conveyed by the screw conveyor 55 tothe boot til of the elevator mechanism 22. As the said material isstratified on the screen 55, the heavy particles of refuse thereof,particularly the shale, will accumulate in the lower strata of the bedof materials with the components of intermediate specific gravity, suchas bone or honey coal, in the intermediate strata and the clean coal inthe top I to be continuous and to extend into compartment.

N. This is an important feature of our invention and increases thecapacity of the jig by delivering material to compartments l3 and I4which is partially stratified due to the action of the precedingcompartment or compartmens. The chutes are: sections I3 and H areperforated and receive water from the front sub-sections of compartmentsl3 and I4, respectively, whereby the stratification of he precedingcompartment is maintained continuous over the refuse discharge boots ll.It is thus evident that fill vention.

the stratifying action is continuous and undisturbed throughout theentire jig. Moreover, the absence of any dropping of material from onecompartment to the next avoids any disturbance of the straiifiedcondition of the bed. I

The refuse responsive float mechanism 53 of the compartment I2 istherefore adjusted to respond to a large accumulation of heavy specificgravity material, such as shale, to operate the refuse discharge valve40. The coal, bone and honey coal received by screen 36 in the secondcompartment I3 is subjected to another jigging operation and thiscompartment is preferably so adjusted as to remove any shale which mayhave passed over the weir 3'! of compartment l2 and most of thecomponents of intermediate specific gravity-that is, the bone or honeycoal. Therefore, principally pure coal with some of the fractions ofintermediate specific gravity material that is, bone or honey coal and,particularly, the lowest specific gravity components thereof-will passover the weir 31 of compartment [3 onto screen in the flnal compartmentId. Compartment M will be adjusted to remove effectively those remainingfractions of refuse and discharge from the discharge chute 29 only theclean coal.

It is evident that, as the particular separation to be performed by eachof the compartments l2, l3 and i4 is not of identical material, itprobably will require a different adjustment of the operating mechanismsfor each of these compartments. provided by the mechanism, comprisingour in- For example the air valves 36 of each of the sub-compartments ofcompartments l2, l3 and it may be given a separate and distinctadjustment, if desired. Likewise, the water supplied to each of saidsub-compartments may be individually adjusted. In addition, the refusewithdrawal mechanism Mi for each of said compartments i2, i3 and IE maybe individually adjusted and this is particularly important as theamount of accumulated refuse on the screen 36 has an important bearingupon the results obtained in any compartment. In addition, the height ofweir 3i of each compartment may be individually adjusted. By providingthe individual elevator mechanisms 22, 23 and 2 3 for each of thecompartments l2, l3 and M, respectively, the component parts of therefuse may be received at separate points and thereafter receiveindividual treatment. For example, it may be found that the refuse fromthe last compartment M includes a secondary coal which may be sold assuch or may be crushed and returned to the material receiving chute 28to be subjected again, with a. new charge of coal, to a jiggingoperation.

In addition to the adjustments for providing individual control for eachof the compartments 2, l3 and I4, each of the sub-compartments thereofis provided with an individual pivoted fluid deflecting plate 58 whichcomprises a pivoted continuation of the partition 33' and which may beadjusted to vary the flow of fluid upwardly through the screen 38. Asbest illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3 of the drawings, this plate isattached at its upper end to a pivot shaft 59 pivotally mounted inbrackets 59' and attached at its lower end by a bracket 80, to one endof the adjusting rod 8| which rod extends through a packing gland 82 inthe side wall 32 of said wash tank 30. The packing gland 62 comprises abase portion 83 which is preferably welded to said side plate 32 and hasa conical aperture 64 through A wide range of adjustments is therefore 1which said rod 6| extends. A brass knuckle 65 is threaded to receive thethreaded end 68 of the rod BI and is adapted to be clamped in theconical aperture 64 of said base 83, as by a clamping plate 51 providedwith a conical aperture 68 and removably attached to said base 63, as bymachine screws 69. The head of the brass knuckle 65 is preferablyflattened at Hi along opposite side faces thereof to receive a wrench ortool, whereby it may be turned to move the rod 8i inwardly or outwardlyof the wash tank Bil and thereby to adjust the position of thedeflecting plate 58. Said plate 53 is also preferably provided adjacenteach side edge with a wiping member ":7 i, such as a rubber strip, whichmakes a wipingcontact with the adjacent wall of the sub-compartment Saidstrip is attached to said plate 553' by clamping plate ii andappropriate fastening means, as nuts and bolts.

It is thus seen that the partition which divides the Wash tank 38 intothe Wash chamber 35 and the air chamber has a pivoted adjustablypositionable extension for each of the sub-compartments of thecompartments l2, l3 and M which may individually regulate the lines offlow of jigging fluid with respect to the screens 35. This pivotedextension adjustable while the device is in operation due to the factthat the adjusting means therefor is accessible from the outside of thewash tank. To adjust said mechanism, machine screws 69 are suflicientlyreleased to allow turning of the brass knuckle lie and, when theadjustment is completed, said screws are drawn home and the knuckle Niheld in a fixed position to form a water-tight packing gland.

in addition to the above mentioned elements, each of the compartmentsi2, i3 and i i may be provided with longitudinally extending reinforcing pipes l2 which are rigidly attached at their ends to the end wallsof each of the wash tanks 36] and to the central partitions 43 thereof.Each of the compartments l2, l3 and i4 is also provided with a coveredmanhole E3, the cover of which may be removed to provide access to saidcompartments for making any repairs and for providing access thereto forany other purpose.

Referring more particularly to Figs. i, 4, 6, '7, 8 and 9 of thedrawings, there is illustrated in detail the refuse accumulationresponsive float controlled refuse discharge mechanism which constitutesone feature of our invention. This device comprises a float 53,preferably stream lined by having a rounded front with side wallstapering to a point at the rear, as best indicated in Fig. 5,- which maywell take the form of a hollow aluminum member. Said float is providedwith a pointer 14 adjacent the top thereof adapted to cooperate with ascale 15, which is mounted'on bracket 18 carried on cross channel m mber11 between the side wall 32 of the tank and the partition 33' thereof,to indicate the refuse depth. Said float 53 is carried upon a parallelmotion mechanism comprising two pairs of lever arms 18 and 18 havingheads 80 and 8|, respectively, provided with a plurality of apertures 82and 83, respectively, for receiving trunnion bolts 84 and 85,respectively, extending through said float 53. It is manifest that, byremoving the cotter pins which are provided for each of said bolts 84and 85 and removing said bolts from the float 53, said float may beadjusted to any desire-d position with respect to said lever arms 18 andI9 and retained in said adjusted position by re-inserting said bolts 84and 85 and fastening the cotter pins Said lever arms 18 and 19 arepivoted, respectively, to the shafts 86 and 81 which are mounted onnonfriction bearings in the journals 88 and 89, re-

spectively, of the bracket 19. The lever arms 19 are removably attachedto the shaft 81, as by the lever arms 19 rigidly to the shaft 81 so thatsaid shaft 81 rotates responsive to the movement thereof, the lever arms18 are keyed to said shaft 99, as by keys 93, to provide positiverotation of said shaft 86 responsive to movement of said lever arms 19,which movement is, of course, controlled by the float 53. The shaft 89has an extension 94 over which is adapted to he slipped the hub of alever arm 99 carrying an adjustable counter-balancing weight 91 adaptedto counter-balance the normal weight of the float mechanism 53. Said hub95 also receives a reduced extension on a cross shaft 98 and ispreferably rigidly attached thereto, as by welding. The hub 95, ridingon extension 94, thereby provides one bearing support for said shaft 98.Integrally formed with said hub 95 is an extending arm 99 having aU-shaped end I99, the side flanges of which are adapted to extendadjacent the upper and lower edges 'of one of the lever arms 18, wherebysaid arm 99 will transmit the motion imparted to lever arms 18 by thefloat 53 to the cross shaft 99.

The other end of the cross shaft 98 is journaled in a bearing I9Imounted on a bracket I99 attached to the end of the cross channel 11.Bigidly attached to said cross shaft 98 to rotate therewith andextending rearwardly therefrom is a lever I92 provided with a. pluralityof apertures I93 adapted to receive selectively the bifurcated end of acoupling member I94 which is attached to a downwardly extending rod I99which carries at its lower end an adjustable coupling I99 (Fig. '7)provided with an elongated aperture I9l. Said I coupling I99 isscrewthreaded with the lower end of the shaft I99 and is provided with alock nut I91 whereby said coupling may be adjustably positioned on said,

shaft I95 and whereby the end of said shaft I95 may be variably extendedto restrict the amount of lost motion provided by said elongatedaperture I91. It is thus seen that a mechanism is provided whereby theposition of the float 99 may control the rod I99 which rod may, in turn,be employed to control the operation of the refuse discharge valve 49,the details of which will now be described.

Said refuse discharge valve 49 comprises a paddle wheel I98 which, asseen in Fig. l, cooperates with the chute 39 to remove the refuseaccumulated in said chute and discharge said refuse into the boot 4| ofthe elevator mechanisms 22, 23 and 24, respectively. Said paddle wheelI98 is mounted on the shaft I09 (Fig. 8) which extends through amounting H9 comprising a removable plate III having a hub I I2 which isprovided with an enlarged recess adapted to receive felt washers I I3 ofa packing gland which washers may be compressed by compression bushingor gland II4 adapted to be adjusted by headless studs and cooperatingnuts H5. The plate I I I is provided with a circumferential flange H6adapted to be attached by cap screws III to a ring I I1 rigidly securedto the side wall 32 of the wash tanks, as by welding. A gasket H8 ispreferably positioned between theflange I I6 and ring II1 to provide awater-tight connection. It is to be noted that the internal diameter ofthe ring I I1 is larger than the diameter of the paddle wheel I98whereby, upon removal of the cap screws 1', the paddle wheel may beremoved by being drawn outwardly through said ring IIl.

Rigidly attached to the flange IIB is the base II9 of a bracket I29which has a pair of spaced upstanding arms carrying spaced journalbearings HI and I22 through which extend the outer end of the shaft I99.Said base II9 may be attached to said ring III, as by cap screws I23which extend through said flange H9 and into said ring Ill. The bearingsI2I- and I22 are provided with inner circumferential bearing surfacesI23 and I24, respectively, which cooperate with the outer portion of theshaft I99, and with external bearing surfaces I25 and I29, respectively,for a purpose which will be hereinafter described.

The shaft I99 is provided at its outer end with a grease fitting I2'lcooperating with an axial drill hole I2'l which communicates withcircumferential grease grooves grease to said bearing surfaces I23 andI24, respectively. Adjacent said bearing surfaces I28 and I24, thebearings I2I and I22 may be provided with appropriate grease grooves I28and I29.

A pair of levers I39 and I9I is provided with hearing rings I92 and I39,respectively, which c0- omrate with the inner portions of the bearingsurfaces I29 and I29, respectively, and are r0- tatable with respectthereto. Said rings I32 and I99 have extending arms I39 and I35,respectively, adapted to carry counter-weights I39 and I99,respectively, which may m adjusted on said extending arms, as by clampscrews I39.

Intermediate the bearings I2I and I22 and keyed rigid with the shaft I99is a ratchet wheel I99. It is thus evident that upon rotation of theratchet wheel I99 the shaft I99 will be rotated with the paddle wheelits to eflect the discharge of accumulated refuse in the chute 39.

To efiect a rotation of said ratchet wheel I99, there is provided a pairof pawls I49 and MI which are of unequallength and which are mountedupon a bolt I92 extending between spaced bell crank levers I99 and I44having bearing rings I49 and I49, respectively, cooperating with theouter extensions of the bearings I25 and I29, respectively;

Between the bearing rings I99 and I49 is a spacing washer I'll. Asimilar spacing washer I49 is also positioned between the bearing rlngsI32 and I49. These washers are preferably provided with the rotationpreventing tongues extending into slots I99 and I59, respectively, ofsaid bearings I25 and I29. Arms I43 and. I44 of the bell crank leversI43 and I44 are provided with extensions I5I and I52, respectively,having appropriate bearing rings adapted to receive the trunnions of across head I52, which cross head is adapted to receive the end of areciprocating rod I53 and to be adjustably attached thereto by spacednuts and washer I54.

As best illustrated in Fig. 1, the rod I53 is continuously driven froman eccentric mechanism I54 driven from the shaft 25. As the shaft 25rotates continuouslyrunder the operation of the motor I1, it will beevident that the bell cranks I43 and I44 will be continuouslyoscillating on I29 to supply the bearings I25 and I26, respectively.Therefore, so long as the pawls I40 and I are allowed to cooperate withthe teeth of the ratchet wheel I29, said wheel I36 and the paddle wheelI06 will be continuously revolved in a step-by-step manner. The twopawls I40 and MI of unequal length are provided so that a movement ofthe bell cranks to rotate said pawls-a distance only half thedisplacement of the teeth of said ratchet I39 -will be effective torotate said ratchet wheel. That is, by providing the two pawls I40 andI, a smaller arc of oscillation of the bell cranks I43 and M61 isrequired to rotate the ratchet wheel To provide for the selectiveoperation of said ratchet wheel E39 and the consequent selectiverotation of the refuse discharge paddle wheel H08 responsive to theoperation of the float 53, the levers and lfiil, which have an arcuateperiphery, provided with an arcuate shield 955 h..ving an extensionwhich, in certain posiim.) tions of adjustment, rides under the pawlsI60 and t lt and prevents said pawls engaging the teeth of the ratchetwheel Rigiclly attached to said levers B30 and iii for rotation thereofabout the bearing rings 632 and I33 is a bifurcated bracket I57 having across pin E58 adapted to move in the elongated slot ill? of the couplingE06. It is thus evident that the float 53 operating responsive to theaccumulation of refuse on the screen 36 will determine the position ofthe shield I55 with its extension 556 which will, in turn, determinewhether or not the pawls I40 and I, or either of said pawls, engage theteeth of the ratchet, wheel I39 and will determine theextent of thisengagement.

The elongated opening III'I is provided so that the float 53 may have alimited up and down movement responsive to the pulsations of the jiggingfluid passing through the screen 36, without affecting the shield I55.The limits of this movement may, of course, be varied by the position ofthe coupling I06 on the threaded end of the shaft I05.

It should be noted that the bell cranks I43 and I44 are pivoted on thestationary bearings I26 and I26, respectively; thus, there is notendency for the shaft I06 to be oscillated responsive to the continuousoscillation of the said bell cranks I43 and I44 except when there isengagement between one of the pawls I40 and I and the ratchet wheel I39whereby the discharge of refuse will be completely under the control ofthe float mechanism. In addition, the washers I41 and I46 being alsostationary and non-rotatably mounted on the bearings I25 and I26,respectively, there will be no tendency for the oscillatory movement 'ofthe bell cranks I43 and I44 to be transmitted to the brackets I30 andI3I. By virtue of the counter-balance weights I36 and I3-I, themechanism comprising the levers I36 and I3I and all partsrigid'the'rewlth will remain in pulsating movement of this coupling. Theposi-v tion of the shield I66 will therefore be governed by the floatmechanism and will not cause undue wear by 'needless continuousoscillation. v

In the operation of the jig in the manner above described, it is evidentthat the refuse discharge mechanism of each of the compartments I2, I3and I4 will operate responsively to the accumulation of refuseindividual to each of said compartments. Shaft 26, common to all of saidcompertments, will maintain a constant oscillatory welding. Said framealso includes a downwardly movement of the bell cranks I43, I44 of eachcompartment. Floats 53 individual to each of said compartments willpulsate periodically under the influence of the pulsating movement ofthe jigging fluid. This pulsating movement will not be 6 transferred tothe shield I55 of the discharge mechanism due to the lost motionconnection provided by elongated slot I01. However, a predeterminedmaximum accumulation of refuse on any compartment screen 36 will alterthe range of pulsating movement of coupling I06 and cause a rotation ofshield I55 to remove its extension I56 to allow the pulsating movementof bell crank levers I43, I44 to be translated into rotary movement ofpaddle wheel I08 of discharge valve 46, through engagement of one of thepawls I40 or itl with ratchet wheel I39. The refuse will thereby bedischarged from chute 30 and screen 36 of the operating compartmentuntil a predetermined minimum amount of refuse remains on said screen36, which will result in extension 356 or. shield I55 again liftingpawls I40 and MI to prevent their engagement with ratchet wheel 536,responsive to the control of float 53. It is evident that the dischargeof refuse is individual to each of the separate compartments I2, I3 andI4 and thus may be separately and differently adjusted, and the refuseon each bed 36 of each of said compartments may be maintained at anydesired level within relatively narrow limits.

One of the features of our invention relates particularly to theconstruction of the refuse discharge chute 39. As best seen in Fig. 1,this chute includes as one wall thereof the pivoted member I60 which isplvotally supported adjacent the top thereof by pivot member I6I andwhich has a lower free end I62 of cylindrical configuration which freeend is adapted to engage normally the paddle wheel I08. Said pivotedmember I60 therefore normally guides the refuse in the chute 39 to bedischarged under the operation of the paddle wheel I08 of said refusedischarge valve 40. Should a. large particle of material be received insaid discharge chute 39 which might otherwise damage said refusedischarge valve 40, the pivoted member I60 will pivot about its pointI6I, thereby yielding and preventing any damage to the refuse dischargevalve 40. It is also to be noted that valve 40 is entirely below thescreen 36. Chute 39 is therefore always fllled with refuse and apredetermined depth of refuse is maintained on said screen 36.

Another feature of our invention is the pivotal supporting means for thescreens 36. The said screens 36 may take the form of a. perforate platemounted upon a. frame I63 comprising side and end angle members and bothlateral and longitudinal reinforcing ribs, which are rigidly attachedtogether and to said perforate plate, as by extending plate I63 which isadapted. to maintain sliding contact with the partition '43 duringadjustment of said screen to confine the jigging fluid of eachsub-compartment to its screen portion. Adjacent its forward end, thescreen is supported on a. pivot I64 for pivotal movement thereabout. Therear end of said screen 36 is 'adjustably supported from hangers I66which depend from brackets on the side wall 32 and the partition 43.Said hangers I66 have nuts I66-adjacent the top thereof which may beadjusted to inclination of said screens which will control the rate oftravel of material thereacross.

Referring particularly to Figs. 10, 11 and 12, there is illustrated indetail a valve mechanism 44 which is particularly adapted to be employedwith our invention as well as an. eccentric mechanism 45, which isparticularly adaptedto be employed to operatesaid valve 44. Said valve44 comprises a cylinder 259 provided in the upper part thereof with acircumferential inlet port 268 comprising an annular openingcommunicating with a circumferential chamber 26l provided with a pipefitting 262. Adjacent the lower part of said cylinder 259 is a pluralityof. discharge ports 263 communicating with atmospheric pressure. Inplace of the discharge ports 263, there may be employed a continuousannular. discharge port similar to the inlet port 260 and provided witha circumferential chamber therefor similar to the chamber 26L In thiscase, the circumferential chamber would be provided with one or more exhaust ports similar to the ports 263.

The bottom part of said cylinder 259 communicates with the belledconduit 264 forming the upper part of the air chamber 35. The upper partof the cylinder 259 is provided with ahead 265 having an integral guidesleeve 266. Within the cylinder 259 is a pair of pistons 261 and 268.The piston 261 is adapted to control the opening and closing of theinlet port 268 and the piston 268 is adapted to control the opening andclosing of the discharge ports 263. The piston 261 is provided with acentral hub 269 and axially extending spokes 219. The spokes 218 permitthe free movement of the air received through the inlet port 268,through the cylinder 259 to the conduit 264 and into the air chamber 35when piston 261 is in inlet port opening position. The piston 268 isalso provided with a hub 2H and spokes 212 in order to allow the abovementioned free passage through the cylinder 259.

Rigidly attached to the hub 269 is a hollow sleeve 213 adapted to beguided in the guide sleeve 266. The upper endof said hollow sleeve 213is screw threaded, 'as illustrated at 214, and is adapted to receivescrew-threadedly a split guide thimble 215 which may be clamped rigidlythereto after having been adjusted to a desired position With respect tothe threaded neck portion 211 of said guide thimble 215. The innercylindrical surface of said guide thimble 215 is adapted to slide on theouter surface of the guide sleeve 266. A U-shaped link 218, carrying aconnecting rod 242, is pivoted to laterally extending lugs 289, 238 ofthe thimble 215.

Projecting through the longitudinal opening 28l of the hollow sleeve 213is a shaft 282 rigidly attached at its lower end with the hub 21! of thepiston 268 and adjustably connected 'to the hollow sleeve 213 at itsupper end by screw threads 283. A clamping nut 284 is provided forclamping said shaft 282 rigidly with said hollow sleeve 213 after theformer is adjusted to a desired position. To provide for the adjustmentof said shaft 282 with respect to said hollow sleeve 213/the top of saidshaft 282 is preferably squared as indicated at 285, whereby a wrenchmay be employed to rotate said shaft 282 and thereby effect itsadjustment. The portion 219 of sleeve 213 is also squared to receive atool whereby it maybe prevented from turning with shaft 282 duringadjustment of said shaft. As the piston 261 is rigidly attached to thehollow sleeve 213 and as the piston 268 is rigidly attached to the shaft282, it is obvious that by rotating said shaft 282, which i 7 isscrew-threaded at 283, with said hollow sleeve 213, the position of thepiston 268 may be adjusted with respect to the piston 261. Thisadjustment may be made within wide limits and, when any desiredadjustment is effected, it may be maintained by clamping home the clampnut 284. After said adjustment is made between said pistons 261 and 268,said pistons are adapted to be moved in unison under the control of theconnecting rod 242. By virtue of the adjustabilityv afforded by thescrew-threaded connection between the threaded portion 214 of the hollowsleeve 213 and the cooperating threaded portion of the guide thimble215, said guide thimble 215 may be adjusted with respect to said hollowsleeve 213 and thus the positions of said pistons 261 and 268 may beadjusted with respect to the connect-- ing rod 242. The upper end of theconnecting rod 242 is connected to an eccentric mechanism 45.

There is also illustrated in Figs. 10, 11 and 12 a particular type ofadjustable eccentric mechanism which is particularly well adapted foruse as an element of our invention. Said eccentric mechanism comprises asplit strap 286 rigidly connected with the connecting rod 242. Mountedupon the shaft 28 for rotation therewith is a bushing 288 provided witha circumferential flange 289 and a cylindrical hub 298. This mounting iseffected by the usual keyway in the shaft 28 with which cooperates a key288' against which is adapted to impinge a set screw 289' threadedthrough said bushing 288. It may be stated that the keyways on shafts.29 and 2| are all preferably formed in longitudinal alignment. Said hub298 is adapted to fit into an-oval-shaped opening 29| having parallelside walls in an eccentric plate 292, which plate is rotatablymountedbetween side fianges of the strap 286 and is carried between the flange289 and a retaining washer 293, bolted to said bushing 288, as by capscrews 293'. The stroke of the connecting rod 242 is of course,controlled by the spacing between the axis of rotation of the eccentricplate 292 or the center thereof, and the axis of rotation of the shaft28; that is, the stroke will be twice this spacing. In order to controlvariably the stroke of said connecting rod 242, the eccentric plate 292is made adjustable with respect to the bushing 288 whereby said axialspacing may be controlled at will. The oval-shaped opening 29! permitsrelative adjustment between the eccentric plate 292 and said bushing288. To effect this adjustment and also to effect a further adjustmentwhich will be discussed more in detail hereinafter, the flange 289 isprovided with three angularly positioned conical holes 295' adapted toreceive selectively the frusto-conical head 295 of a pin 294, the axisof rotation of which head is spaced with respectto the axis of rotationof said pin 294. Said pin 294 is adapted to be received in a drill holein the plate 292. The axial extension of said frusto-conical head 295 isscrew-threaded to receive a nut 296 and at its extremity is squared homethe nut 296. The retaining washer 293 is 16 also effective to maintainthis adjustment when clamped by cap screws 293'.

As illustrated in Fig. 12, the distance between the outer wall of thehub 299 within the ovalshaped opening 291 and the wall defining saidopening 291 may be adjusted by the rotation of the pin 294 about itsaxis. This may be efiected by a wrench fitted on the square head 291.Along the section line illustrated in Fig. 12, the said walls are spacedat substantially their maximum distance. By rotating the pin 294, theaxis of rotation of the frusto-conical head 295 will be" moved upwardlyand will decrease the mentioned distance. This affords the abovementioned adjustment of the length of the stroke of the connecting rod242. In addition to the above mentioned adjustment, by removing theretaining washer 293 and the nut 296, it is possible to move theeccentric plate 292 along with the pin 294, having a frusto-conical head295, in axial direction sumciently to disengage the head 295 from theconical hole 295' in which it is positioned and to rotate the eccentricplate 292 either 120 or 240 degrees in either direction and then placesaid head 295 in another of said conical holes 295'; that is, plate 292may have any one of three angular positions relative to the bushing 288.By this expedient, a plurality of valves may be driven from the commonshaft 29 and their cycle of operation may be either 120 or 240 degreesin phase relation. In addition, the cycle of operation of any one valvemay be adjusted in phase relation either 120 or 249, degrees from anyprior setting thereof.

By employing the adjustable eccentric mechanism and the adjustable dualpiston valve mechanism illustrated in Figs. 10, 11 and 12, very flexiblecontrol of the admission of air under pressure to the discharge chambers35, the maintenance of airrin said chambers and the discharge of airtherefrom is provided. The adjustable eccentric mechanism 45 providesfor an adjustable stroke of the connecting rod 242 and a resultingadjustable stroke for the pistons 261 and 268. Said adjustable eccentricmechanism 45 also provides for adjusting the phase relation between twoor more valves. The adjustable thimble 215 provides for an adjustabledetermination of the limits within which said pistons 261 and 268 willoperate for any given eccentric adjustment and any given relativeadjustment of pistons 261 and 268; and the adjustment provided betweenthe shaft 282 and the hollow sleeve 213 provides an adjustment for therelative positions of the pistons 261 and 268 which, in turn, providesfor the relative times of opening and'closing of the inlet port 269 andthe discharge ports 263. With the valve 44 and the eccentric mechanism45 adjusted as illustrated in Figs. 10, 11 and 12 and with the shaft 29rotating in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 10, a cycleof operation of the device will be substantially as follows: With thevalve 44 in the position illustrated in Fig. 11, both the inlet port 269and the discharge ports 263 are closed and the chamber is sealed at aninitial atmospheric pressure following a period of exhaustion of chamber35. As the shaft 29 rotates counter-clockwise and the pistons 261 and268 are moved downwardly, the inlet port 269 is opened as the eccentricdevice 45 approaches the lower limit of its stroke. The discharge ports263 are maintained closed through this portion of the cycle. It may benoted that, as the inlet port 269 does not begin to open until theeccentric 45 has approached the downward extremity of its stroke, therate of opening of said port 269 will be small in comparison with whatit would have been had said port started to open at approximately theinstant the axis of the eccentric plate 292 passed below the axis of theshaft 29. With the connecting rod 242 in its extreme downward positionof the stroke, the inlet port 269 will be com pletely opened and thedischarge ports 263 will be closed. As soon as inlet port 269 starts toopen, air under pressure will be admitted to the chamber 35 to produceupward movement of the jigging fluid through the screen 36. On returnmovement of the connecting rod 242 under the control of the eccentric45, the inlet port 269 will be closed while the outlet ports 263 will bemaintained closed. Under these conditions, the chamber 85 is effectivelysealed under initial pressure above atmospheric pressure and thiscondition is maintained until the connecting rod 242 has substantiallycompleted its stroke in the upward direction under the control of theeccentric mechanism 45. When the connecting rod 242 substantiallycompletes its upward stroke, said discharge ports 263 are opened whilethe inlet port 269 is maintained closed and the chamber 35 is free toexhaust at atmospheric pressure. During the following downward movementof pistons 261 and 268, exhaust ports 263 will be closed while inletport 269 is maintained closed and the chamber- 35 is effectively sealedunder conditions of initial atmospheric pressure. This completes a cycleof operation of the said mechanism.

The period during which the inlet port 269 is opened and fluid underpressure is admitted to the air chamber 35 is designated the inletperiod. The following period during which ports 269 and 263 are bothclosed under conditions of initial pressure above atmospheric, isdesignated the expansion period. The following period during whichexhaust ports 263 are opened is designated the exhaust period and thefinal period during which ports 269 and 263 are closed under initialatmospheric pressure is designated the com-- 7 pression period.

It may be noted that with this particular valve construction theexpansion and compression periods are, of necessity, of relatively equalduration of time while the inlet and exhaust periods may be variedwithin wide limits and may be of difierent time durations.

By lowering the position of the piston 261 with respect to theconnecting rod 242, the period during which the inlet port 269 ismaintained open may be increased and, by raising said piston withrespect to said connecting rod, said period may be reduced. This periodmay be varied between wide limits from. 20 degrees to 300 degrees ofmovement of shaft 29, by controlling the position of said piston 261 onsaid hollow sleeve 213.' Likewise, by lowering the position of thepiston 288 with respect to the connecting rod 242, the period duringwhich the discharge ports 263 are open may be reduced and, by raisingthis piston with respect to said connecting rod, said period may beincreased. This period may also be varied between the limits abovementioned for piston 261. It is to be noted that the length of thepiston 261 is such that under no condition may said piston be movedupwardly sufficiently to open the inlet port 269. This requires theopening of said inlet port 269 to take place only during the downthecontrol of the piston 268, are adapted to be opened only in response toan upward movement of the connecting rod 242. Furthermore, the pistons261 and 268 are preferably so adjusted that under no condition willports 260 and 263 be open at the same time for, if this conditionexists, the air under pressure will enter the I cylinder 259 throughinlet port 260 and be discharged to the atmosphere through the dischargeports 263, thereby wasting the air and doing no useful work. It isobvious that the portion of any cycle of operation, during which inletport 260 may be opened and discharge ports 263 closed, may be variedwithin wide limits and the portion of the cycle, during which dischargeports 263 may be opened "and inlet port 260' closed, may likewise bevaried within wide limits. In additiomthe condition under which boththeinlet port 260 and the discharge ports 263 are closed may be variedwithin wide limits and, in fact, this period may be reduced tosubstantially zero or increased to substantially 150 degrees. It may benoted, however, that with this particular valve construction, thisperiod cannot exceed even theoretically 180 degrees and as a practicalmatter the limit is about 150 degrees.

In addition, the rate at which ports 260 and 263 are opened and closedonce their respective pistons begin an opening and closing operation maybe varied by varying the stroke of the connecting rod 242 and by varyingthe instant during any cycle of operation at which said opening orclosing operation begins. The latter factor is, of course, determined toa large extent .by the portion of the cycle a valve is adjusted to beopened while the former is independently adjustable. For example, if theportion of any cycle defining the limits during which port 260 firststarts to open until it is totally closed is small, such as 60 degrees,then it will begin to open when eccentric 45 approaches the lower partof its stroke during which the rate of movement of piston 26! isrelatively small. On the other hand, if the portion of the cycledefining the limits during which ports 26!] first starts to open untilit is totally closed is 180 degrees, then it begins to open wheneccentric 45 is midway of its downward stroke. At this portion of itsmovement, the piston 26'! is moving at its maximum velocity. It is, ofcourse, evident that the rate of opening and the rate of closing ofeither of the ports 266 or 263 will be the same though the rate ofopening and closing of the inlet port 260 may be different from that ofthe discharge ports 263.

It is thus obvious that with the eccentric operated valve structureillustrated in Figs. 10, 11 and 12, the period during which the fluid isadmitted to the chambers 35, the rate of this admission, the periodduring which the discharge ports 263 are closed and the rate of openingthereof may be varied within wide limits, thus providing a very flexiblemeans for controlling the cyclic movement of the jigging fluid withrespect to the screen 36.

A cycle of operation of the jigging fluid under the influence of thecyclically operating valve 44 in a typical case will be substantially asfollows: During the air inlet period, the jigging fluid will moveupwardly through the screen 36. During the expansion period whichfollows, the jigging fluid will continue to move upwardly through saidscreen 36 though at a decreasing velocity. It maybe that said upwardmovement will continue beyond the expansion period and for a shortinterval into the following exhaust period, and it is even possible thatsaid upward movement may terminate prior to the termination of the.expansion period. During the exhaust period, the upward movement of thefluid is terminated,' unless previously terminated and for an instantsaid fluid is at rest. Following this instant of rest, the fluid movesdownwardly through the screen 36 at an increasing rate of downwardvelocity. This increasing downward velocity is ordinarily checked beforethe end of the exhaust period and the downward velocity is maintainedata sharper reduced rate during the latter partof the exhaust period.During the following compression period, the air in the chamber 35 iscompressed by the downward movement of the fluid through the screen 36,which compressed air is effective to reduce the downward velocity ofsaid fluid to zero. In some cases, it has actually been found thatduring the compression period the air is sufllciently compressed toreduce not only the downward velocity of the fluid to zero but to startthe upward velocity of the fluid with respect to the screen 36 justprior to thebeginning of the following air inlet period. Under certainadjustments of the valve, it has also been found that the compressionperiod is not quite sufficient to reduce said downward velocity to zeroand this is accomplished by the first part of the following inletperiod.

It is evident that the device comprising our invention is very flexibleand each of the several compartments l2, l3 and I4 may be independentlyadjusted by virtue of a large number of independently adjustable meansto take care of the particular problem presented to eachof saidcompartments. For example, the inclination of the screen of each of saidcompartments may be separately and individually adjusted. The rate ofdischarge of the accumulated refuse on each of the screens 36 may beindependently adjusted and the allowed depth of refuse bed or amount ofaccumulated'refuse may be independently adjmted for each compartment.The size of the refuse discharge opening and the height of the weir ofeach compartment may be separately adjusted. In addition, each of saidcompartments is divided into two sub-compartments each sub-compartmentof which has an individual periodically operated air control valve forcontrolling the pulsations of the jigging fluid in that sub-compartment.Each of said subcompartments also has an individual source of watersupply and an individually controllable fluid guide plate for directingthe jigging fluid to that portion of the screen 36 positioned above saidsub-compartment.

In addition, the phase relation of the valves individual to eachof thecompartments i2, i3 and i4 may be adjusted within wide ranges. As abovesuggested, each group of said valves individual'to the severalcompartments I2, i3 and I4 may be set 120 degrees out of phase. Thisparticular setting is, of course, by no means necessary and, if desired,all of said valves may be operated in phase or four of said valves maybe operated in phase while two of said valves which, for example, areindividual to one of the compartments, may operate out of phasetherewith by any desired amount. Furthermore, if desired, one valveindividual to each of the compartments may be set 120 degrees out ofphase, with the valves of any one compartment also set 120 degrees outof phase. However, the preferred setting is with the valves of theseveral compartments 120 degrees out of phase. This reduces to a minimumthe amount of air drawn from the tank 41 at any instant. By virtue ofthis feature, the pressure in said tank 41 may be maintainedsubstantially constant with a relatively small pump or blower 46.Furthermore,

due to this constancy of pressure in tank 41, the

operation of the jig is more uniform and emcient. This is due to thefact that a constant air pressure is always available and the resultingoperation may be more accurately controlled by valves 44. Full pressureis always available at the end of a stroke as well as at the startthereof and, should there be any overlapping of the air inlet periods oftwo compartments, the second compartment would have available the fullair pressure, which is necessary for its proper action.

In the operation of our device, a very efllcient jigging of materialas,for example, coal-may be realized due to the above mentioned extremeflexibility of the adjustments of each of the compartments l2, I3 andI4. In addition to the elements described above in detail, it may bementioned that the drive mechanisms 26 and 21 are each provided with achain tensioning mechanism which may take the form of a pivoted bellcrank having a roller on one arm thereof adapted to ride on the chainand an adjustable weight on the other arm thereof. These devices areclearly seen in Fig. 2 of the drawings.

The device of our invention may be employed to perform substantially anydesired cycle of jigging operation and it is particularly adapted tooperate in accordance with the method of jigging disclosed in the abovementioned application of Byron M. Bird, Serial No. 737,443, though it isobviously not restricted to this particular method of jigging.

The steps involved in said method are described generally in the abovedescription of the operation of valve 44. It may be further pointed outthat the cycle of operation of each compartment involves the upwardmovement of fluid through the screen 36, first at a relatively slow rateto open the top of the bed, followed by an increased rate which liftsthe entire bed as a mass. The bed then opens rather rapidly throughout,after which the fluid continues its upward movement but at a rapidlydecreasing rate. This is followed by downward movement of the fluidthrough screen 36 which is cushioned by the air trapped in air chamber35 during the compression period and brought to rest thereby. Thestratification of the material takes place while the bed is open. Thisparticular method of jigging has been found to provide a more completeseparation of materials according to specific gravity and to be capableof treating .a wider size range of materials than has heretofore beensatisfactorily treated,

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in thedetails and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the claims said screen,

hereto appended, and we wish therefore not to be restricted to theprecise construction herein disclosed.

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of our invention, what wedesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a jig, the combination with a tank adapted to contain a jiggingfluid, of a pivoted deflecting plate in said tank, said plate having apivotal connection adjacent the top of said plate extendingsubstantially parallel with a side wall of said tank, an adjusting rodattached to the lower end of said plate and extending through a sidewall of said tank, and combined adjusting and packing means cooperatingwith said rod where it extends through said wall to adjust plvotallysaid plate and provide a fluid-tight packing for said rod.

2. In a jig, the combination with a device comprising a plurality ofsections each of which comprises a fluid container, a materialsupporting screen and a refuse discharge valve, of operating meanscommon to all of said refuse discharge valves, and refuse accumulationcontrolled means individual to each section for effecting operativeconnection between the refuse discharge valve of said section and saidcommon operating means, said refuse controlled means comprising a floathaving a rounded front and tapering sides leading to a relatively sharprear end.

3. In a jig, the combination with a tank, of

a screen in said tank, means for causing periodic upward movement ofjigging fluid through said screen to stratify material thereon, floatmechanism for determining the depth of refuse on said screen, saidmechanism comprising an elongated upright float having a rounded frontand tapering side walls leading to a sharp rear portion, means forpivotally mounting said float including lever arms, one on each side of'said float, each having a plurality of vertically spaced holes adaptedto receive selectively a cross pin for connecting said float to saidarms, a variable counter-weight for adjusting the buoyancy of saidfloat, a refuse valve controlling lever operatively connected to'saidfloat, and means for varying the leverage of said float thereon.

4. In a jig, the combination with a tank, of a screen in said tank,means for causing periodic upward movement of jigging fluid through saidscreen to stratify material thereon, float mechanism for determining thedepth of refuse on said mechanism comprising an elongated upright floathaving a rounded front and tapering side walls leading to a sharp rearportion, and means operated by said float mechanism for controlling thedischarge of refuse accumulated on said screen.

5. In a jig, the combination with a tank adapted to contain a jiggingfluid, of an adjustable screen within said tank, a partition dividingsaidtank into a plurality of sub-compartments to which said screen'iscommon, means individual to each sub-compartment for causing jiggingfluid to move cyclically through said screen, and means comprising anextension on the'bottom of said screen to provide a continuation of saidpartition to said screen for varying positions of said screen.

6. In a jig, the combination with a tank having upright longitudinallyextending side walls and end walls, of an upright longitudinallyextending partition positioned between said side walls and dividing saidtank into two compartmerits, a perforate material supporting screen inone of said compartments through which jigging fluid is adapted to bemoved, means associated with the other compartment for periodicallyforcing said fluid through said screen, said longitudinally extendingpartition comprising an upper stationary portion adapted to aid insupporting said screen and a lowermost portion which is pivoted at itstop at the lower extremity of said upper stationary portion, wiper meanscarried on the ends of said lowermost partition adapted to wipe the endwalls of said tank, and means for adjusting said pivoted portion aboutits pivot.

"7. In a jig, the combination with a tank, of a screen in said tank,means for causing periodic upward movement of jigging fluid through saidscreen to stratify material thereon, float mechanism for determining thedepth of refuse on said screen, said mechanism comprising a float havinga rounded front and tapering sides leading to a relatively sharp rearportion, and means op-= erated by said float mechanism for controllingthe discharge of refuse accumulated on said.

screen.

8. In a jig, the combination with a tank, of a material supportingscreen therein, means for causing jigging liquid to move upwardlyperiodically through said screen to stratify material thereon containingrefuse, a refuse ejecting rotary valve, an oscillating arm for rotatingsaid valve, a float constructed and arranged to determine the depth ofstratifled refuse on said screen, and means controlled by said float andconstructed and arranged to cause said rotary valve to rotate through avariable angle for each oscillation of said oscillating arm, said angledepending upon the position of said float as determined by the depth ofrefuse on said screen.

9. In a jig, the combination with a tank, of a coal supporting screentherein, means of causing jigging liquid to move upwardly periodicallythrough said screen to stratify the coal thereon into layers of refuseand clean coal, a rotary refuse ejector, a reciprocating member forimparting rotary movement to said valve, a pivoted float constructed andarranged to determine the depth of said refuse bed, anti-frictionmountings for said float, and mechanism controlled by said float andcooperating with said reciprocating member to determine variably theextent of rotation of said ejector for each reciprocation of 1 saidmember as determined by the depth of said refuse bed.

10. In a jig, the combination with a tank, of a coal supporting screentherein, means for causing jigging liquid to move upwardly periodicallythrough said screen tostratify the coal thereon into layers of refuseand clean coal, a rotary refuse ejector, oscillating means for rotatingsaid ejector in steps, and means including a refuse responsive float forcontrolling variably the angle of rotation of said ejector for eachoscillation of said oscillating means, as determined by the depth of therefuse on said screen.

11. In a jig, the combination with a tank, of a coal supporting screentherein, means for causing jigging liquid to move upwardly periodicallythrough said screen to stratify the coal thereon into layers of refuseand clean coal, a rotary refuse ejector, oscillating means for rotatingsaid ejector in steps, and means for controlling variably the angle ofoscillation of said oscillating means, as determined by the depth of therefuse on said screen.

12. In a jig, the combination with a tank adapted to contain a jiggingable screen within said tank, a partition dividing said tank into aplurality of sub-compartments to which said screen is common, meansindividual to each sub-compartment for causing jigging fluid to movecyclically through said screen, and means constructed and arranged toprovide a rotation of said ejector for each fluid, of anadjustcontinuation of said partition to said screen for BYRON M. BIRD.ERNST F. MULLER.

